U.S. patent number 7,553,167 [Application Number 11/900,668] was granted by the patent office on 2009-06-30 for cable connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Biao-Bing Lv, Ming Zhang.
United States Patent |
7,553,167 |
Zhang , et al. |
June 30, 2009 |
Cable connector
Abstract
A cable connector includes a first connector and a second
connector. The first connector comprises a first housing defining a
receiving space for receiving the second connector, and a plurality
of contacts assembled to the first housing, each having a
contacting arm exposed in the receiving space and an engaging arm
disposed on a top surface of the first housing for being soldered
with cables easily. The second connector comprises a second housing
received in the receiving space of the first housing and a
plurality of terminal received in the second housing for
electrically contacting with the contacting arms of the contacts of
the first connector.
Inventors: |
Zhang; Ming (Kunshan,
CN), Lv; Biao-Bing (Kunshan, CN) |
Assignee: |
Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co.,
Ltd. (Taipei Hsien, TW)
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Family
ID: |
38786265 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/900,668 |
Filed: |
September 13, 2007 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20080064263 A1 |
Mar 13, 2008 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 13, 2006 [CN] |
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2006 2 0076594 U |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
439/74; 439/497;
439/597 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
4/2433 (20130101); H01R 9/2416 (20130101); H01R
12/716 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
12/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;439/74,497,579 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Truc T
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Chung; Wei Te
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cable connector comprising: a housing defining a receiving
space recessed from a front part of a bottom surface thereof and a
plurality of holes extending downwardly from a top surface thereof
and communicating with the receiving space, the housing further
having a plurality of channels downwardly extending from a rear
part of a top surface thereof and being separated from the
receiving space; and a plurality of contacts assembled to the
housing, each contact having a contacting arm received in the hole
and exposed in the receiving space and an engaging arm disposed on
a top surface of the first housing the contact further having a
retaining arm inserting into and engaging with the channel to
retain the contact in the housing; wherein the housing is formed
with a plurality of parallel ribs on the top surface thereof and a
plurality of slots respectively defined by every two adjacent ribs,
the engaging arms of the contacts are located in the slots, the
holes of the housing extend downwardly from each slots, the
contacting arm of each contact extends downwardly from the engaging
portion into the holes to be exposed in the receiving space.
2. The cable connector as described in claim 1, wherein the housing
is cubical shape, the channels downwardly pass through a part of
the bottom surface of the housing where the receiving space is not
recessed from.
3. The cable connector as described in claim 1, wherein the housing
is formed with plurality of gaps in a rear side thereof, the gaps
are respectively aligned with corresponding slots to regularly
arrange the cables together with the slots.
4. The cable connector as described in claim 1, further comprises a
shell assembled to and covering the housing, the housing defines at
least one latching hole on two lateral ends thereof, and the shell
is formed with at least one latching arm engaging with the latching
hole of the housing and at least on pressing piece on a top thereof
for pressing the cables.
5. The cable connector as described in claim 1, wherein the
contacts include a plurality of power contacts and a plurality of
signal contacts.
6. The cable connector as described in claim 5, wherein the power
contact is in an L-shaped, the engaging arm extends forwardly and
horizontally from a top of the contact arm, which is upright.
7. The cable connector as described in claim 5, wherein the
retaining arm of the signal contact is in parallel to the
contacting arm, the engaging arm extends horizontally and links
tops of the contact arm and the retaining arm.
8. A cable connector comprising: a first connector comprising a
first housing and a plurality of contacts assembled to the first
housing, the first housing defining a receiving space recessed from
a bottom surface thereof and a plurality of holes extending
downwardly from a top surface thereof and communicating with the
receiving space, each contact having a contacting arm received in
the holes and exposed in the receiving space and an engaging arm
disposed on a top surface of the first housing; and a second
connector comprising a second housing received in the receiving
space of the first housing and a plurality of terminals receiving
in the second housing for electrically contacting with the
contacting arms of the contacts of the first connector, the second
housing being in a U-shaped and having an elongated body with a
plurality of grooves receiving the terminals, two ends extending
forwardly beyond the elongated body; wherein the housing is formed
with a plurality of parallel ribs on the top surface thereof and a
plurality of slots respectively defined by every two adjacent ribs,
the engaging arms of the contacts are located in the slots, the
holes of the housing extend downwardly from each slots, the
contacting arm of each contact extends downwardly from the engaging
portion into the holes to be exposed in the receiving space.
9. The cable connector as described in claim 8, wherein the first
housing is formed with a plurality of parallel ribs on the top
surface thereof and a plurality of slots respectively defined by
two adjacent ribs, the engaging arms are located in the slots.
10. The cable connector as described in claim 9, wherein the holes
of the first housing extend downwardly from each slots, and the
contacting arm extends downwardly from corresponding engaging
portion to insert into the hole and be exposed in the receiving
space.
11. The cable connector as described in claim 10, wherein the first
housing is formed with a plurality of gaps in a rear side thereof,
the gaps are aligned with the slots to regularly arrange the cables
together with the slots.
12. The cable connector as described in claim 11, wherein the
terminal of second connector has a contact portion exposed out of a
front surface of the second housing, a vertical retaining portion
and a horizon portion linking the contact portion and the retaining
portion and extending rearward beyond the second housing with a
tail for being soldered to a printed circuit board.
13. The cable connector as described in claim 10, wherein the
receiving space of the first housing is a U-shaped space to receive
the U-shaped second housing.
14. The cable connector as described in claim 9, wherein the
contacts include a plurality of power contacts and a plurality of
signal contacts, the first housing of the first connector has a
plurality of channels downwardly extending from a top surface
thereof and separated from the receiving space.
15. The cable connector as described in claim 14, wherein the power
contact is in an L-shaped, the engaging arm extends forwardly and
horizontally from a top of the contact arm, which is upright.
16. The cable connector as described in claim 15, wherein the
signal contact is in a U-shaped and further comprises a retaining
arm parallel to the contacting arm to retain the signal contact to
the housing, the engaging arm extends horizontally and links tops
of the contact arm and the retaining arm.
17. A connector assembly comprising: a board mount connector
including: an insulative first housing extending along a lengthwise
direction and defining a first mating portion on one longitudinal
side in a first face; a plurality of first contacts disposed in the
first housing with first contacting sections exposed to the first
mating portion and with first soldering sections exposed to a first
mounting area which is located on the other longitudinal side in a
second face opposite to said first face; and a plurality of wires
extending into the first housing from said longitudinal side to the
other longitudinal side with inner conductors soldered to the
corresponding first soldering sections, wherein the first
contacting section is located closer to said longitudinal side than
the first soldering section to said longitudinal side, and the
first mating portion is closer to said longitudinal side than to
said other longitudinal side; wherein the housing defining a
receiving space recessed from a front part of a bottom surface
thereof; and wherein the first housing defining a receiving space
recessed from a bottom surface thereof and a plurality of holes
extending downwardly from a top surface thereof and communicating
with the receiving space, each contact having a contacting arm
received in the holes and exposed in the receiving space and an
engaging arm disposed on a top surface of the first housing; and
wherein the housing is formed with a plurality of parallel ribs on
the top surface thereof and a plurality of slots respectively
defined by every two adjacent ribs, the engaging arms of the
contacts are located in the slots, the holes of the housing extend
downwardly from each slots, the contacting arm of each contact
extends downwardly from the engaging portion into the holes to be
exposed in the receiving space.
18. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 17, further
including a second connector comprising an insulative second
housing extending along said lengthwise direction and defining a
second mating portion on one longitudinal side which is coupled to
the first mating portion under a condition that said second
connector is equipped with a plurality of second contacts with
second contacting sections located around the second mating portion
and mated with the corresponding first contacting sections of the
first contacts.
19. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 18, wherein said
second connector is with a pair of soldering pads at two opposite
lengthwise ends for soldering to a printed circuit board under a
condition that both said soldering pads arc essentially aligned
with a lengthwise center line of the housing instead of being
offset on one side.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable connector for electrically
connecting cables to a print circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
Following development of electronic and communication technology,
more and more different connectors are widely used for connecting
electronic equipments, such as a cable connector, which is used for
connecting cables to a print circuit board and builds signal
transmission path between the cable and the print circuit
board.
JP. Patent Application publication No. 2000-331731 discloses such a
cable connector, which comprises a first connector connecting with
a plurality of cables, and a second connector assembled to a print
circuit board. The first connector has a first housing, a plurality
of power contacts and signal contacts received in the first housing
and each having a U-shaped contacting portion with an opening
mouth, and a pressing plate having a haulm for pressing the cables
to the U-shaped contacting portions. The cables are transversely
disposed upon the mouths of the first and the second contacts, then
the pressing plate press the cables downwardly toward bottoms of
the mouths to make each of the cables form a U-shaped ends, whose
opposed legs abut against and electrically contact with
corresponding opposed inner sides of a corresponding mouth. The
second connector has a second housing and a plurality of third
contacts for electrically connecting with the first and the second
contacts. The first connector engages with the second connector to
electrically connect the cables to the print circuit board.
However, the pressing plate is an accessory component, which may
cause increased cost and complex manufacture process. And when the
pressing plate presses the cables downwardly, the sidewall of the
first housing will also be indirectly pressed that may destroy the
sidewall, on the otherwise, for the mouth of the contacts are used
for receiving the cables, no plastic fills there, so the intensity
of the first housing is not enough.
Hence, an improved cable connector is required to overcome the
disadvantages of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector
in which the cables reliably electrically connects with
contacts.
Accordingly, to achieve above-mentioned object, a cable connector
of present invention includes a first connector comprising a first
housing and a plurality of contacts assembled to the first housing,
and a second connector comprising a second housing and a plurality
of terminal received in the second housing. The first housing
defines a receiving space recessed from a bottom surface thereof
and a plurality of holes extending downwardly from a top surface
thereof and communicating with the receiving space. Each contact
has a contacting arm received in the holes and exposed in the
receiving space and an engaging arm being disposed on a top surface
of the first housing for being soldered with a cable easily. The
second housing is accepted in the receiving space of the first
housing, and the terminals of the second connector are electrically
contacting with the contacting arms of the contacts of the first
connector.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable connector of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a partially exposed, perspective view of the cable
connector of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an assembled, perspective view of a first connector and a
second connector the cable connector, taken from a bottom side;
FIG. 4 is an exploded, perspective view of the cable connector of
the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the first connector of the cable
connector;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the first connector taken along
line 6-6 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the first connector taken along
line 7-7 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the cable connector taken along
line 8-8 of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the cable connector in accordance with the
present invention is used to connect cables (not labeled) to a
print circuit board (not shown). The cable connector comprises a
first connector 10 and a second connector 20. The first connector
10 has a first housing 100 defining a U-shaped receiving space 114
for the second connector 20, a plurality of power contacts 101a and
signal contacts 101b and a shell 102 covering the first housing.
The second connector 20 has a second housing 200 and a plurality of
terminals 201 received in the housing 200 for electrically
connecting with the power and the signal contacts 101a, 101b.
Referring to FIGS. 2-5, conjoint with FIG. 6-7, the first housing
100 is a longitudinal body and has two lateral ends 112, a front
and a rear sidewall 106 and an approximately rectangular main body
115 surrounded by the ends 112 and sidewalls 106. A protruding bar
109 is disposed in a center part of the main body 115 and divided
the main body 115 into two a right part and a left part.
The left part of the main body 115 is formed with a plurality of
parallel ribs 104a on a top surface 116 thereof which are linked
with the front sidewall 106, a plurality of slots 105a defined by
two adjacent ribs 104a, and a plurality of first through hole 103a
(referring to FIG. 6) extending downwardly from a part of each
slots 104a and through the first housing 100 in a vertical
direction for accommodating the power contacts 101a. The right part
of the main body 115 is formed with a plurality of parallel ribs
104b on the top surface 116 which is narrower than the rids 104a
and also linked with the front sidewall 106, a plurality of slots
105b defined by two adjacent ribs 104b, and a plurality of second
through hole 103b (referring to FIG. 7), which are arranged in a
front and a rear row and respectively downwardly extending from the
slots 105b through the first housing 100 in a vertical direction
for retaining the signal contacts 101b.
All of the protruding bar 109 and ribs 104a, 104b are extending
along a front-to-back direction. The rear sidewall 106 is formed by
a plurality of pieces 107 protruding from a rear edge of the top
surface 116 of the main body 115, and two adjacent pieces 107
define a gaps 108 therebetween, respectively aligned with a
corresponding slot 105a or slot 105b for setting the cables. Each
end 112 is provides with two latching holes 111a, 111b respective
in an outside and a rear side thereof. Referring to FIG. 3, which
shows a bottom view of the first connector 10, the first housing
100 defines the U-shaped receiving space 114 recessed from a rear
side of a bottom surface 113 thereof. Bottom parts of the first
through holes 103a and the second through holes 103b in a rear line
communicate with the receiving space 114 for exposing the power and
signal contacts 101a, 101b in the receiving space 114.
referring to FIG. 4, the power contact 101a is approximately in an
L-shaped, each has a vertical contacting arm 1010a with stabs 1013a
on two lateral sides used for retaining the power contact 101a to
the first through hole 103a, and an engaging arm 1011a forwardly
and horizontally extending from a top end of the contacting arm
1010a. When assembly, the power contacts 101a are downwardly
assembled to the first housing 100, in a manner that the contacting
arms 1010a insert into correspond first through holes 103a, and the
engaging arms 1011a are disposed in the slots 105a.
The signal contact 101b is approximately in a U-shaped, each has a
vertical contacting arm 1010b, a vertical retaining arm 1012b with
stabs 1013b and a horizontal engaging arm 1011b linking top ends of
the contacting arm 1010b and the retaining arm 1012b. When
assembly, the second contacts 101b are downwardly assembled to the
first housing 100, in a manner that the contacting arms 1010b and
retaining arms 1012b respectively insert into the rear and the
front second through holes 103b, and the engaging arms 1011b are
disposed in the slots 105b. Furthermore, the front of each engaging
arm 1010b has a projecting portion (not labeled), on which the
cables depend.
The shell 102 is stamped from a metal piece, and has a pair of
latching arms 1020a, 1020b on opposed ends thereof. When assembly,
the shell 102 covers the top surface 116 and a front surface of the
first housing 100, the latching arms 1020a, 1020b insert into and
engage with the corresponding latching holes 111a, 112b to retain
the shell 102 to the first housing 100. Furthermore, two pressing
piece 1021 are formed on a top of the shell 102 for pressing the
cables. Referring to FIG. 5, it should be noted that the shell 102
assembles to the first housing 100, after the cables electrically
connect to the power and the signal contacts 101a, 101b, which are
already mounted on the first housing 100.
Here, we will describe the process of the cable assembling to the
first housing, the cables have a plurality of power cables to be
seated in the left part of the main body 115, and a plurality of
signal cables to be seated in the right part of the main body 115.
Since each of the slots 105a, 105b is aligned with a gaps 108
defined on the front sidewall 106, the power cables are
respectively disposed in the slots 105a and corresponding gaps 108,
the signal cables are respectively disposed in the slots 105b and
corresponding gaps 108. Cable cores in a front end of the cables
are respectively located upon the engaging arms 1011a, 1011b of the
power and the signal contacts 101a, 101b, then solder the cable
cores to the engaging arms 1011a, 1011b to establish an electrical
transmission path between the cables and the first connector
10.
Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 8, The second connector 20 comprises a
U-shaped second housing 200 having an elongated body with a
plurality of groove 202, two ends 203 extending forwardly beyond
the main body and each assembling a soldering pad 204 on an outside
surface thereof, and a plurality of terminals 201 received in the
groove 202. The terminals 201 comprises a contact portion 2012
exposed out of a front surface of the second housing 200, a
vertical retaining portion 2013 with stabs 2014 and a horizontal
portion 2010 linking the contact portion 2012 and the retaining
portion 2013 and extending rearward beyond the second housing 200
with a tail 2011 for being soldered to a print circuit board (not
shown). Conjoint with FIG. 1, the second housing 200 of the second
connector 20 is completely received in the receiving space 114 of
the first connector 10, the soldering pads 204 laterally extend
out. The contact portions 2012 of the terminals 201 respectively
abut against and electrically contact with the contacting arms
1010a, 1010b of the power and the signal contacts 101a, 101b
exposed in the receiving space 114 (referring to FIG. 6-8).
While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present
invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications
and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the
spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of
the present invention as described in the appended claims.
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